


Yule

by LovesFrogs



Series: That's What Godbrothers are For [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Awkwardness, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Harry is basically a Weasley, One Shot, Shovel Talk, Weasley Family, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 17:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16412471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovesFrogs/pseuds/LovesFrogs
Summary: Ron may not have internalized the fact that his baby sister is attending the Yule Ball with a boy, and Harry knows for a fact that the twins haven't been told. What's an honorary family member to do but warn said boy off of Ginny just to be safe?(aka the one where Harry gives Neville the shovel talk, and both are rather awkward)





	Yule

**Author's Note:**

> “[Harry, Ron, and Hermione] spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage’s Wizarding Crackers.” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, pg. 410)

Harry was about to join Ron in trying to recruit the twins for a snowball fight that afternoon when he saw Neville entering the Great Hall alone, his nose stuck, not for the first time, in Moody’s copy of Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. At that moment, something suddenly occurred to Harry.

“I’ll catch up,” he told Ron, who looked at him oddly. “I’ve got to talk to Neville for a moment,” he elaborated. Ron shrugged and ran after the twins, who were now nearly at the top of the stairs.

Harry turned back to Neville and found him sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. The nearest group of students were some short second year boys who appeared to be loudly touting the greatness of some quidditch player or other. Probably Krum, but Harry wasn’t very interested in talking about professional quidditch at the moment. Instead, he quietly slid into the seat beside Neville and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, hi Harry,” said Neville.

“Hey Neville,” Harry said. “Ready for the ball tonight?”

Neville groaned. “It’s all anyone talks about!” he complained. “I don’t know if Hermione told you, but I asked her if she’d go with me. She was already going with someone else though, so I’m going with Ginny instead.” Neville blushed brightly as he glanced at Harry again.

Harry smiled sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it. Ron and I both ran into the same problem.”

“Really?” asked Neville, “Harry, I thought all the girls wanted to go with you!”

“Yeah, all the ones who don’t know me at all,” Harry rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky, Neville. At least you’re not getting assaulted by random third year Ravenclaws on the way to the Great Hall every other day.”

“I guess so,” said Neville skeptically. “But anyway, what did you want to talk about? I thought you and Ron were going to have a snowball fight or something…”  
“Oh, right,” Harry grimaced, wondering if this had been such a good idea after all. “Well, I actually wanted to talk about… er… Ginny. She mentioned that you were taking her earlier.”

Neville stared at him, then his eyes widened. “I--Wait, Harry do you like Ginny? Is that what this is about? Because we’re just going as friends and--”

“No!” said Harry quickly, feeling his cheeks turning bright red. “No, no, no! I don’t like her like that, you go ahead and take her!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Harry took a deep breath. “Well, I’m pretty sure Fred and George would have killed you by now if they knew it was you she was going with, and Ron heard her say it, but I don’t know if it really sank in, so that leaves me. Ginny’s a year younger than us, and she’s Ron’s little sister. I know you’re just friends, and you’re also my friend, but if you do anything to hurt her, or ruin this for her, or, y’know, anything… just be aware that I’ll hit you with all these new hexes I’m learning for the Tournament.”

Neville looked a little nervous, but also a bit confused. “Harry, I thought you didn’t even know Ginny that well.”

“Well, I…” Harry stumbled awkwardly over his words. Why had he thought this would be a good idea? “She’s obviously not telling her brothers, and somebody had to warn you.”

Neville chuckled. “I’ll be good, Harry, I promise.” Then he winked. “I won’t even tell Ginny about this conversation.”

“You’d better not,” said Harry, shuddering. “She’d either take it as a declaration of love or kill me for it!”

“Or both,” added Neville helpfully. “But seriously, I won’t do anything.”

“Thanks,” said Harry.

Just then, Ron came jogging over to them. “What’s taking you so long, Harry? The twins probably have a huge set-up waiting for us already!”

“Sorry, Ron,” Harry laughed, getting up. “Do you want to play, Neville? You can be on our team, and then it won’t be quite so uneven.”

“I’d rather stay in with my book, thanks,” said Neville, glancing at the swirling snow outside. “Besides, I thought it was two on two.”

“Two on two against the twins,” Ron said. “Put together they count for at least three or four.”

Neville laughed. “You’re on your own. Tell me how it is getting killed by your brothers, though.”

“Sure,” Harry muttered. “Even Neville abandons us in the face of the twins. Why are we doing this again, Ron?”

“Dunno, mate, but the longer we stand here the more snow we get dumped on us when we finally get out there,” Ron pointed out.

“Right,” sighed Harry. “See you, Neville!”

“Bye, Harry,” Neville called, turning back to his book.

.

Harry somehow got through the dinner and a dance with Parvati before he finally escaped and made his way over to Ron’s ugly, but distinctive, frayed maroon robes. "How’s it going?" Harry asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer.

Before Ron could say anything, Fred and George stopped by with their dates, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, two girls who usually played Chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Fred and George’s robes, while not maroon and lacy like Ron’s, were obviously not high quality. The girls, however, unlike Padma, didn’t seem to mind. 

Harry was surprised to see a bit of annoyance on the twins’ faces when they came closer; he’d thought they were looking forward to the Yule Ball as much as all the giggling girls that had appeared around the school lately.

“Have you seen Ginny?” asked Fred without preamble, and suddenly Harry realized why they were so upset. 

“We didn’t even know she was invited!” complained George.

“And when did Mum get her dress robes?” Fred cried.

“Dunno,” Ron shrugged. He didn’t stop glaring at Hermione and Krum dancing together for a second.

“That kid who asked her--” 

“--Neville Longbottom--” George put in.

“Yes, him. What do you guys know about him?”

“Is he safe?”

“Does he like her?” asked Fred, as if it had just occurred to him that this was a possibility. Both twins immediately turned to Neville and Ginny, who looked like she was having much more fun now that the waltz was over and Neville had stopped stepping on her feet.

Angelina just rolled her eyes. “Ginny’s a big girl, Fred. She can handle it.”

“I agree,” said Alicia. “C’mon, George, let’s go get drinks.”

“But we didn’t even know about this!” protested George.

“Yeah, what if he does something?” Fred said. “We didn’t get a chance to threaten him like we’re supposed to!”

The twins turned to each other. “This could be very bad,” they said together.

“Um, guys?” Harry spoke up. They turned to him like bloodhounds catching a scent. “Neville’s a good guy. He’s not going to do anything.”

“How do you know?” asked Fred.

Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. “I might have sort of, ah... warned him for you.”

“What?” both twins bust out. Even Ron stopped his one-sided glaring contest with Krum to stare at him.

“Well,” muttered Harry, “It obviously didn’t sink in for Ron, and Ginny was keeping it from you guys. I didn’t want her to kill me, which she might’ve if I told you, so I just talked to Neville myself. He’s my friend, and they’re going as friends, and he won’t do anything.”

Fred and George glanced at each other, nodded, and turned back to Harry.

“Well, Harry my friend--”

“We are holding you accountable--”

“For anything that Neville might do.”

“You have been warned,” they finished.

“Great!” said Alicia. “Can we go get some butterbeers now?”

George bowed at the waist. “Of course, my dear.”

At the same time, Fred grabbed Angelina’s elbow. “My Lady, may I have the honor of giving you the next dance?”

Angelina laughed. “Of course you may.”

They swept away in a flurry, leaving Harry with the feeling that he’d barely missed being hit by a tornado. Now Harry really hoped that Neville wouldn’t do anything--for both their sakes!

Parvati had left sometime during the talk with Fred and George for a dance with a boy from Beauxbatons, and Hermione came over to sit in her vacant seat. Her face was flushed from dancing and her smile was very bright.

Ron spoke to her snappishly, clearly taking her enjoyment as a personal insult.

Harry sighed and tuned his friends out as they began to bicker. He didn’t mind that Hermione had gone to the ball with Krum at all; no, Harry’s biggest concern was Neville and Ginny. After all, his very life might be in danger if Neville did anything and the twins found out about it!

Hermione stormed off, apparently too offended by whatever Ron had said. Harry just shook his head and grabbed another butterbeer while Ron complained about her and her date.

The next day, Harry was very relieved to hear that Neville had, indeed, done nothing to be worried about. Nevertheless, his friend found himself ‘accidentally’ pranked by the twins’ fake wands and trick desserts much more often than the average Gryffindor. Ginny wasn’t happy, but Harry was secretly thankful that the twins were taking it out on Neville instead of him. 

He also vowed never to date a girl with brothers like that.

**Author's Note:**

> Look! Another one! When did that happen? Please tell me your thoughts.


End file.
